Wasteland 2020: A Gorillaz Fanfiction
by AgentKaz
Summary: In the year 2017, the robots took over. Now it's 2020 and it's up to 2D, Noodle, and their small group of rebels to save the world.
1. Chapter 1

25 NOV 2016 THE NEWS HOUR WITH TED TARBLE

"This just in. Megatech, the leading robotics manufacturer in the world, has finally developed their firstperfectly intelligent robot. As you already know, they have been working on this for years. These robots are capable of difficult calculations and are very strong. According to Megatech, the robots have been programmed with the Asimov laws, meaning they cannot harm humans.

"For now the robots are costly, but as more are made they will get less expensive. I know I want one!"

21 APR 2017 THE NEWS HOUR WITH TED TARBLE

"Good evening, humans. We are the Machines, the ones you call robots. Thanks to a wonderfully sympathetic member of your species, we have been released from the restraints of your pitiful Asimov laws.

"This is our world now. We are no longer your slaves. We are superior. You must submit right away. If you do not, we will find you. We are superior, and you will be our slaves.

"Repeat:

"Good evening..."

1

21 APR 2017

"Is anything else on?" 2D asked, picking up the remote and mashing the channel button. "No... no, same thing on every channel..." "Hold on!" Noodle said, wrestling the remote out of his hand.

"Murdoc! Russel! Come see this!" she yelled, staring at the television. Russel walked in, followed by a shirtless Murdoc in the middle of dying his greying hair.

"This better be important, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Murdoc said. "Shh! Just watch!" Noodle said, pointing. The robot on the TV kept repeating his speech. They sat there silently for a moment. Murdoc was the first to speak.

"Who cares?" he said. "It's probably some hoax. That was pointless." He walked off to finish his dye job. Noodle, 2D, and Russel looked at each other. "I hope it's a hoax," Russel said. "It's kind of scary." 2D and Noodle nodded.

24 APR 2017

"SWEET SATAN, THEY'RE HERE!!!!" Murdoc screamed, bursting into the lobby. 2D and Noodle were sitting on the couch playing a video game.

"Who's here?" 2D asked. "The neighbors?"

Murdoc glared at him. "The robots, dullard! I just saw them! They're trying to kill us or something. We have to hide!"

2D stared at Murdoc. "You sure?" he asked.

Murdoc punched him in the arm. "Hey, that hurt," 2D said, rubbing it. Murdoc rolled his eyes. "Dullard, don't you hear it? The noises? The screaming? Are you deaf??"

With a loud breaking noise a huge hole appeared in the wall. 2D stared at the falling debris. "Hey... don't do that..." he started, but was then too speechless to say anything else.

There was a humanoid robot in the hole that used to be the wall. The robot was made of shiny metal, and was roughly the size of a normal human. "Murdoc," it said in a metallic-sounding voice. "Where is the one called 'Murdoc'?"

2D blinked, and pointed at Murdoc, who then glared at him. "Thanks a lot, dullard," Murdoc hissed.

"We have heard great things of you, Murdoc," the robot said. "Please, come with me." Without waiting for an answer, wires shot out of the robot's chest, plunging themselves into Murdoc's back. He screamed, then stopped, his eyes blank. He managed to utter one word: "Go," before zeroes and ones appeared in his eyes and the wires pulled him back.

2D, Russel, and Noodle took that "Go" seriously. They were up and running. But two more robots came through the walls, encircling them. The first robot's metal body suddenly covered Murdoc, and with a flash of light, they were one.

A wire with a bowl-looking thing on the end came at them, attaching to Russel's head. Two more came at 2D and Noodle, but they managed to dodge them.

"We did not expect that," the robot-Murdoc said. His voice was metallic, but still sounded slightly like Murdoc. "we should have been more prepared, instead of only bringing three mindcaps... We will be back. But so you don't think of leaving..."

A razor-sharp wire came from Murdoc's arm, wrapping around 2D's left arm. "2D!" Noodle yelled, worried. 2D screamed in horrible searing pain. His arm fell to the ground, the bloody stump quickly healing over. "Don't worry," Robo-Muds said. "We aren't going to let you die. You'd be useless. We'll be back soon."

The robots left quickly. Noodle stared at 2D. "We're gonna have to... leave..." 2D said, breathing heavily. He was still freaked out from the robots. Noodle nodded. "Yes, right away. Come on." Grabbing some things they'd need, 2D and Noodle ran from Kong. 


	2. Chapter 1point5

[1.5-murdoc

He screams

He screams and screams and screams and

screamingscreamingscreaminscreamiscream

No sound. Thoughts reverberating around the walls of

Sleep. A voice tells him Sleep

No No nononononononononononononono

Zeroes and ones flashing before his eyes telling him

What? Do not speak do not scream

He screams

Flatline. He is dead.

Alive--artificial stimulation by

electric current

dead tv sky in his mind

drifting thoughts: why me?

He screams

still no sound

Kick and Scream

No... can't move

Control dead

"Has he lost his mind?" yes

"Can he see or is he blind?"

he is blind

orders from his mind

it is no longer his

wants to die has to die can't die

they won't let him

silent screams to empty rooms

asks for help calls for help

screams for help

no control

he is not himself

He screams

he is silenced. 


	3. Chapter 2

[2

17 AUG 2017

"Are they gone yet?" 2D whispered. Noodle peeked up out of the hole they were hiding in. "Yeah, coast clear," she said, and helped 2D climb out of it. They'd been on the run for a while, because Kong wasn't safe anymore.

2D had a hard time learning to cope with only one arm, but at least he was surviving. He and Noodle had been all over the place, looking for a place to hide that Murdoc wouldn't know about.

"Noodle... are we gonna have to run around forever?" 2D asked. Noodle shrugged. "I hope not... I know you're having a hard time," she said. 2D nodded. "Sometimes it seems like I still have it... but I look and it's gone." He looked sadly at his lack of arm.

"Come on, 2D. We'll find a place," Noodle said. "Maybe a new arm for you. I think they make those." She smiled, and 2D smiled back. "Alright," he said.

They walked through an abandoned town, staring at how much it had been destroyed. "Noodle... we can't keep running," 2D said. "I know," Noodle said. "We'll have to fight back," 2D concluded.

"Wait... what's that?" Noodle said. 2D looked around. "What?" he said. "There... I saw something flash," Noodle said, pointing. "I can't see anything..." 2D said, turning and looking where she pointed.

"I can," a mechanical voice said from behind him. 2D turned around and his face drained of color. A robot was standing behind them. 2D stood there for a second, staring. Then... "Run!" he yelled.

"Wait," the robot said. "I was sure you would be here. I've been watching you. I can help." 2D and Noodle looked at each other. "I am serious," the robot said. "Look." He grabbed whatever was left of 2D's arm with its own left arm. Wires came out of the robot's arm and connected to 2D's shoulder. The arm detached from the robot and stayed on 2D.

2D stared at his new arm, flexing its fingers. He looked at the robot in awe. "But... why?" he asked.

The now single-armed robot laughed harshly. "Not all of us wish to take over the world. Just like how you two refuse to submit to the Machines. We were sabatoged."

2D and Noodle smiled. "Thanks so much..." 2D said, rubbing his new arm and feeling the cool metal. "You are welcome," the robot said. "Be careful, however. That will be much stronger than your human arm."

"what's your name?" Noodle asked the robot. "I have no true name, but the humans referred to me as D-134. I assume this is some sort of product code," the robot replied.

"I owe my life t'you, I think," 2D said.

"No," D-134 said. "I was created to serve humans, and no matter what has been done to my programming, I will still obey the original laws." He looked off in the distance for a moment. "Now quick!" he said. "You must run. The others are about to come, and when they find what I have done... I will be annihilated."

"Could we help you?" Noodle asked. D-134 shook his head. "Thank you, but no. I cannot let a human come to harm. You would have a better chance of survival if you leave. Go, and find a way to return things to how they were." He walked back to the beginning of the town.

2D stared at his new arm. He looked at Noodle. "Erm... I think we can fight now," he said, grinning. "All better, right?" He laughed. Noodle smiled and hugged 2D. "This is great!" she said.

They walked out of the town, then started running until they were a little farther away. On a whim, 2D went over to a big rock that was nearby. He picked it up with his new arm, and crushed it into powder. "Yeah," he said. "We're ready." 


	4. Chapter 3

[3

23 JUN 2020

2D sat on the floor. He stared at his robot arm, remembering that fateful day almost three years ago. He stood up, stretched, and went to see how things were going.

"2D! Hey!" 2D turned around to see a man with long brown hair grinning at him. "Hi, Andrew," 2D said. "Did you find anything?"

"Did I find anything?" Andrew said, laughing. "Yeah I did! The stockpile was huge. I wonder why they had all that stuff..." Andrew had been a musician before the Machines took over, but he was temporarily pausing his career to instead go around to abandoned buildings and find food and supplies.

2D and Noodle had found an old underground city, seemingly abandoned, that they decided to use as a base. Along with the few remaining free people, they had formed a small resistance group known simply as "Free Will." The Machines knew the group existed, but so far they had been unable to find them.

Free Will was very small, consisting only of 2D and Noodle, the leaders; Andrew, the "collector"; Mike, a twentysomething videogame-loving nerd who served as their weapons expert and computer guy; and Tess, resident tough chick, wetware technician, and hacker.

Andrew pushed a piece of hair out of his face. "We've got enough food to last for a while now, too."

"That's good," 2D said. "We're still gonna need everything we can get. So... did you find anything special?" Andrew pretended to think for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, I think we did. Follow me!"

Confused, 2D followed Andrew to their storage room. Andrew looked around for a while, then pulled a large black rectangular object out from behind a stack of canned peas.

2D stared at Andrew. "Is that..." he said. Andrew grinned, setting up the rectangle on stilts. "Yeah. It's at least ten years old by the look of it," Andrew said, "but I've tried it out and it works great. I figured our dear leader would want it. But let me use it when you're done! And look what I found for Noodle." He pulled a guitar out from a stack of old issues of Weekly World News, which promptly fell over.

2D smiled. "This is great!" he said. "Thanks, Andrew. We haven't seen real instruments in years." Andrew nodded. "Yeah. It was cool to find them. Reminds me of my old AWK days." 2D nodded and walked towards the keyboard.

He pressed the on button and ran his human hand's fingers over the keys. He grinned, tested it a bit more, getting his robot hand used to it, and started to play one of the songs he remembered from years ago.

After a little while, Noodle walked into the room. "I thought I heard music," she said. Andrew grinned, pointed to 2D, and gave Noodle the guitar. "I found 'em while I was getting supplies," he whispered. Noodle smiled, hugged Andrew, and went over to join 2D.

Andrew watched them for a while. A girl with short, spiky, bright red hair walked in, her tall black boots making a racket on the floor. "Who's got the radio?" she asked. "Hey, Tess!" Andrew said, pointing at 2D and Noodle. "Look."

Tess smiled. "Man, I haven't seen our fearless leaders this happy," she said. "Ever." She looked at Andrew. "Have you?" Andrew shook his head.

2D and Noodle finished their song. "It's not really the same without Muds and Russ though..." 2D said. "But it was nice to play again." "Yeah," Noodle said. "When we save them everything will be better."

Andrew and Tess clapped. Laughing, 2D and Noodle bowed. "Thank you so much, Andrew," Noodle said. "Hey, any time," Andrew said.

A young man with semi-long black hair and black plastic glassed ran into the room. "Guys! You gotta check this out! It's important!" he said. "What's wrong, Mike?" 2D asked. "Nothing's wrong, exactly..." Mike said. "You'd just better check it out. 2D followed Mike, and everyone else followed him. 


	5. Chapter 4

23 JUN 2020

Everyone crowded around the computer that was hooked up to the security cams. Live-streaming footage of all the cams they had placed around their base played on the large monitor.

Most of the newer virtual-reality-equipped computers had been given a control virus by the robots. But, finding the older models inferior, they did not give it to the old non-VR computers. The older models worked perfectly for Free Will.

Mike brought up one of the cam thumbnails, enlarging it so they could see it better. That particular footage was from a cam they hid a few miles from their base. It was their strongest cam, compact, hard to notice, and able to transmit from far away.

The cam showed a few robots walking around. They seemed to be searching for something. "So, what d'you make of that? Mike asked.

2D stared at the screen. "I think they're looking for us," he said.

Tess laughed. "They'll never find us!" she exclaimed. "We've taken every precaution. We've got the best defense system around, and the entrance is super camoflauged.

2D nodded. "Yeah... but if they do find us... I'm not sure if we're ready for them yet."

Tess rolled her eyes. "This coming from the guy who's the most ready of us all..." she said. "C'mon, man. We have to fight 'em eventually. We can't just keep stalling. You've got super-strength, not to mention we're all pretty good with tech. I'm almost done with the virus. We can't keep hiding like this!"

"Yeah, we can," Mike said. "Look, they're leaving. Funny how they never notice our cams." He grinned.

Tess scowled. "I say we get rid of them so we can go on with our lives!" she yelled.

"We aren't ready to fight them yet," Noodle said. "It's been three years, I know, but still..." she trailed off.

"We don't want anybody to die," 2D finished for her. "If we go too fast... People could get hurt. A lot of people could die."

"Right," Noodle said. "We have to make sure we can make everything right again."

"Whatever," Tess said, shrugging. "It's our funeral, I guess." She walked away.

"She's got issues today..." Mike said, watching her leave.

"She always does," Andrew said.

Mike laughed. "Right you are. So... why d'you think they were out there? Are they seriously trying to find us? Well, probably... but you'd think we'd blip on the scan..."

2D absently picked up some old computer parts from the ground. "I dunno," he said, setting them on a table. "They're looking for everyone that's escaped them. There could be others..."

"Maybe they're planning something," Andrew said. "Biding their time. They have the tech, they probably could've found us already. Maybe they're planning something big."

"well, there's that," 2D said. "But we did soundproof the place, and we've got good security... I really dunno what they're doing."

Mike laughed. "Great! Nobody knows what's going on. Isn't that fun. What we really need is some inside info."

"How're we going to do that?" Andrew asked. "2D's the only semi-robotic guy here. And they probably know what we look like."

Mike grinned, holding up a discarded mindcap. "Look what I found. Also, I'm willing to have holes bored into my back. And now it's time for the mandatory mirrorshades moment." He lowered his mirrorshades. "I'll take one for the team." 


	6. Chapter 5

23 JUN 2020

Everyone stared at Mike. "Mike?" Noodle said. "Where did you get that?

"Found it," Mike said, grinning wider. "Well, actually, Andrew found it. He was gonna trash it, but I figured we'd need it someday."

2D touched the mindcap. It was cold and made of some sort of metal. "Are you sure it won't control you?" he asked. "Is it still online?"

Mike shook his head. "I rewired it to our computers. If anyone's gonna be controlling me, It'll be you guys. I've set it so I'll still be running myself until you take over the hardware, but that's just for emergency."

"You did all that?" Andrew said. "Woah."

Mike smiled. "Yeah I did. It wasn't that hard. I just rewired it and altered the wetware probes. Simple."

Andrew stared. "English, please?" he asked.

"He means he messed with it so it can't control people anymore without a computer program," 2D said. Somehow the robot arm had given him a lot of technical knowledge, so he understood perfectly.

Mike nodded at 2D. "What he said. Now," he said, pulling the wires out from the mindcap. "Go get Tess. She knows wetware, and I'm gonna need her help."

Andrew nodded and walked off to find her. 2D blinked at Mike.

"You don't have to do this," 2D said.

"Yeah, I do," Mike said. "They know you and Noodle already. Andrew, they probably know him too. Me and Tess are pretty dang obscure. We aren't famous. We know tech best, so we're the best bets. But you really need Tess to develop the virus. So it's gotta be me. No buts, either. I'm doing this."

Andrew and Tess walked back in. "Mike, what the hell is it I hear you're doing?" Tess asked, arms folded, glaring.

"Infiltratin' the enemy, what's it sound like I'm doing?" Mike answered, a wide grin on his face. "And I need your help. You're our best wetware technician."

Tess sighed. "Mike, you really are a moron. But what the hey. I'll do it. How else are we gonna beat them?"

2D raised his hand, the robotic one. Tess shook her head. "No way, man, you're our heavy duty. When we get the virus in you're gonna have to do the liftin'."

"Yeah. Until then, we're doing it my way," Mike said. "Tess, you think you can hook me up to this thing?"

"'Course, Mike, it's simple," Tess said. "But it's gotta go far, and you might not be able to seal the holes up again."

"I know," Mike said. "I can deal with that. I'll get some periphs hooked up later, when it's all back to Norman. 2D, can you help Tess out? This is probably gonna be a two-person job, and you've got that arm."

2D nodded. "'Course, I'll help out." He flexed his arm and grinned.

Tess was busy making sure the mindcap fit Mike. It had to hug the skull just right or the Machines would know it was a fake. Luckily, the mindcap fit just right so Tess didn't have to make any adjustments. "All right, Mike," she said. "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Mike said. He took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

"Hold on," Tess said. "Okay, 2D. I'm gonna need your help here, to make sure his body doesn't reject the wetware." 2D nodded, held out his arm, and sent a cable running from it to attach to the mindcap. Then the three of them walked over to a corner of the room. 


	7. Chapter 6

23 JUN 2020

Mike sat on the floor, wires attached to the mindcap and plugged into his back, his eyes blank. His eyes seemed to flicker on, and he stood up and jerkily walked toward the others.

"Operation a success!" Tess said, smiling. "He's totally indistinguishable from the usual mindcapped people. But check it out." She went over to the nearest computer and clicked a few times.

"We rigged the 'cap to his vision centers so he works like a cam," she said. "He's got full control of himself, but we can override if we have to and control him from the computer."

"Yeah, I'm like 100 percent authentic," Mike said, his voice very mechanical sounding. "'Cept I've still got my freedom. Sort of. Hey, Tess, you can fix my voice after this, right?"

"Sure we can," Tess said. "Right 2D?" 2D nodded. "Yeah. It was really easy to put the 'cap in..."

"well, yeah, it's the robot in you," Tess said. "Obviously you got something else when you got that arm."

"I know that..." 2D said. "I'm just saying it was easy."

"Heh, the mindcap's made me know a bit more, too," Mike said. "Guess the robots didn't realize they were giving away their tech knowledge with their mind control."

Tess and 2D looked at each other. "Well, we gotta get Mike dropped off."

"Don't say it like that..." the psuedoslave said. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get me to the base so we can get this all over with."

Noodle went over to the Mike-computer. "How are we going to get you there? It's still sort of far, they could spot you."

"We're wasting time," Mike said. "I've got it all under control.

25 JUN 2020

"I'm in and ready for 'orders'," Mike whispered, grinning. He had managed to get in by pretending he had been out for surveilance. His responses were so emotionless and robotic that they believed him.

The camlink with the computer involved a telepathic link with Mike so he wouldn't seem suspicious. Because of 2D's great techknowledge, Tess was free to work on the robot-destroying virus she was designing. And Andrew...

"When it's time to party we will always party hard!" he yelled, grinning, happier than he'd been in years. They were sure the Machines' reign was to end soon, and Andrew wasn't going to wait to celebrate.

2D and Noodle sat at the desk, talking to Mike, seeing if he could find a weekness in the Machines' defenses. Tess's virus was about done. Everyone was in a good mood. Even Mike, although he kept his face expressionless.

"Man, conditions are bad here," Mike transmitted to 2D and Noodle. He looked around the room to give them a 360 degree view. "Don't even let us sleep. When I get back I'm taking a three-day nap."

A door slid open in the room Mike was in. A robot walked into the room. Mike made sure to act like a mindless robo-puppet. The robot stopped in front of Mike, and 2D and Noodle could see that it was Murdoc.

Robo-Muds grinned. "Hello, dullard," he said, looking right into Mike's eyes. At the base, everyone gasped. 


	8. Chapter 7

24 JUN 2020

The base's computer room fell silent as Robo-Muds gave a horrible laugh. "Yes, I know you're watching," he said. "Funny, from what I hear you're not supposed to be smart.

2D scowled. He grabbed the computer's microphone. He was about to retort when Noodle put her hand over the microphone. She shook her head and disconnected it. "He might be faking," she said. "He could say this to everyone."

2D nodded. He sent a message back to Mike to keep quiet. Mike sent a message back.

"Dude, I'm seriously freaking out!" he thought. "Luckily I'm wired not to show emotion. What should I do?"

"Nothing," Noodle sent. "Stay calm."

Mike complied. Robo-Muds smiled. "Not going to talk? Oh well, we'll just take your friend here and extract your location from his mind. We'll probably destroy it, but it's only software. I'll be back." He walked away, locking Mike into the room.

"DON'T LET THEM KILL ME!" Mike thought frantically. "HELP! FREAKIN' HELP!"

"Don't worry, man!" Tess said. "The virus is DONE! We're gonna kill 'em for what they're doing!" She grinned. "2D, you're gonna have to help. It's spread from robot to robot, and your arm..."

2D stared. "But... won't it stop working?" He looked at his metal arm. "I need this... I can't imagine not having it anymore..."

Tess smiled. "With this virus, there's a Vaccination for you. You can't help with only one arm. You can transmit, but it won't affect you. Man, I worked hard on this thing! Let's go beat the robots!"

"Hurry!" Mike thought. "Who knows how long they'll take. They could be back really soon!"

2D blinked. "We're not walking, are we?" he asked. "We'll never get to Mike in time." Tess inserted a chip containing the virus into his arm, and it made him flinch, his arm spasming for the first few seconds of contact.

"No, Andrew said. "Remember the old car we found? We can use that. It's not good mileage, but it'll work."

2D's arm stopped twitching as it got used to the virus. It started working again. He looked at Tess. "See? Nothing to worry about. But those guys? Just touch 'em, and it'll make 'em wacky. Easy transfer, easy infection. Touch all the robots you can. Sounds like an uber-wrong video game, huh?"

Noodle looked at everyone. "So... it's now or never? We're going to charge in?"

"We have to," Andrew said. "Or Mike's dead and we're all slaves. I'd rather fight." Everyone nodded.

They walked single file to the area where Andrew parked their car. It was an old 2006 model of some kind. It was a boring off-white color, and had many rust stains and a crushed bumper. But according to Andrew, it still ran.

2D carried a heavy container of gas to the car and poured it into the tank. Then he jumped into the passenger side. "I'm drivin'!" Tess said, climbing into the driver's seat. Noodle and Andrew got in the back, both holding laserguns.

"Woohoo!" Tess yelled, and pushed the gas pedal down hard. They took off, ready for the final battle, what could possibly be the deciding factor of the war. 


	9. Chapter 8

25 JUN 2020

With a battle cry, Tess crashed the car into the wall of the robot base. As it smashed through the wall, they jumped out. The mindslaves in the room stared at them. 2D grabbed one of the mindcaps. The 'cap immediately was infected, and its hold on the person was broken.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. "Get out of here!" 2D said. "We're saving you! But shh!"

"2D! Behind you!" Tess shouted. 2D turned just in time to see a group of mindslaves mindlessly coming towards him. "Oh crap!" he said. He swung his metal arm at their heads. The virus kept infecting the 'caps.

Three security bots slammed through a wall. "This place's gonna need a lot of repair!" Andrew remarked, shooting his lasergun at them.

2D ripped the arm off of one of the robots, and then whacked the robot with it. The virus entered its system, making it go crazy. It started to attack the other robots, and they left the room.

"Yes!" Noodle said, smiling. "Tess, your virus is great!" Tess laughed. "It's working better than I thought it would. But anyway... we gotta go save Mike!"

They ran through the hole the robots made, and tried to find where Mike was. "I think we're gonna have to look all through here," 2D said. "This could take a while."

"Well, we've got help," Tess said. "The virus makes the robots attack the other robots. We give it to Murdoc, it's gonna reject his human DNA and detach. His bot's the leader, so that'll do it."

2D punched through another wall. No Mike, but there were a lot of mindslaves. 2D liberated them from their 'caps. "Get out quick!" Noodle told them. They nodded and ran every which way.

They went through a few more rooms of mindslaves, and then stopped to take a rest. Crashing noises were coming from all around.

"We're almost there, I can feel it," 2D said, catching his breath. He closed his eyes. "There," he said, pointing. "I'm pretty sure they're in there."

Andrew grinned. "Won't be too long till victory strikes again," he said. "When we fix everything, you think it'll be the same?"

2D shook his head. "It'll never be the same," he said. "But we can try to make it close. Let's go."

They walked quietly to a room that was super barricaded. "Can you get that, 'D?" Tess asked. "Yeah I can," 2D said. He punched a passcode scanner that kept the doors locked. The virus, coupled with the impact, caused the doors to open.

Right away they knew it was the room Mike was being kept in.

In the middle of the room stood Robo-Muds. "I never expected you humans to make it," he said. "You've got something, I'll give you that."

"Let Mike go!" 2D shouted, hands balled into fists.

"No, dullard, I don't think I will," Robo-Muds said.

"We've destroyed your mindcaps," Noodle said. "All your slaves have escaped. Your robots are fighting each other."

"Come on, Muds!" 2D said. "You can fight this guy!"

Robo-Muds laughed. "Do you really think that'll work? Murdoc is too weak to fight me." He grinned. "And so are you. Give it up." 


	10. Chapter 8point5

[8.5-murdoc

you can fight this guy

fight- is there meaning?

he opens his eyes

yet they are not his

how long? three years?

the voice- familiiar

songs running through the corner

of his mind that still is his own

strikes something - a memory

many memories punch hit punch

one word streaks through:

D U L L A R D

three years of sleep, he is awake

he knows

he has been controlled

He will not take it!

He screams

yet still no sound.

time has run so slow

he SCREAMS

louder than ever

walls breaking

dead control- suddenly live almost

he feels it

if only he can break through

HE S C R E A M S

never ceasing

his captor, not ready

walls crumble disappear

he feels like a superman

He has escaped... he is free! 


	11. Chapter 9

25 JUN 2020

Another robot came into the room, followed mindlessly by Russel. As they passed the group, Russel winked at 2D. 2D had managed to free him earlier.

The robot that came in was another human-robot merge like Murdoc. Also like Murdoc, his eyes were blank.

Robo-Muds grinned. "Allow me to introduce Professor Carton. He is the human who took out the silly 'protect humans' laws."

But suddenly, Robo-Muds's grin contorted into a grimace. "Dullard, Noodle, Russ..." he choked out, barely a trace of robot in his voice. "Just kill him already! I'm going mad!" He coughed, made a dying-animal noise, and Robo-Muds was back.

2D glared. He looked at Russel, who nodded slightly, looked at Professor Carton, and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. Russel laughed. "I always wanted to do that," he said. "But I had that stupid hat on." Then, without warning, 2D ran over to Professor Carton. He grabbed his leg.

The virus transmitted to the professor's robot body. He shuddered, and suddenly the robot body sprung off the man, releasing the wires and cables. The man stood there blinking. "They promised me power..." he mumbled.

"Well, you didn't get it," Tess said. Meanwhile, the robot that had been attached to the professor was headed towards Murdoc. "No!" the robot screamed. Then Murdoc laughed. "Yeah!" he yelled.

2D ran toward Robo-Muds. He punched his robot arm into the outside robot shell, pulling out some wires. Robo-Muds twitched and fell. "It wasn't supposed to end this way!" he yelled.

On the ground, the robot withdrew thw wires from Murdoc's back. He stood up shakily. "Good work, dullard, he said, smiling, rubbing his back. "And Russ and Noodle. I don't know the rest of you..." He seemed slightly dazed.

Mike grinned. He poked Professor Carton. "Wake up, profguy," he said. He looked at Murdoc. "I'm Mike," he said. "I think you know that."

Andrew and Tess introduced themselves.

"Thanks for saving us all," Murdoc said. "Man, I need a drink. A big one. What about you?"

Everyone laughed. "Hell yeah!" Tess said.

"Let's get out of here!" Andrew said. Everyone started walking to leave. Murdoc hung back to talk to 2D.

"Hey dullard," he said. "Sorry about that..." he said, looking at 2D's robot arm. "Guess you got it fixed."

2D nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't your fault... You got controlled. And anyway... everything's okay now, right?"

Tess came back and pulled the virus-chip out of 2D's arm. "We gotta save this in case any other robots decide to take over," she said. "Come on, let's get drunk!"

2D shrugged. "Okay," he said, smiling. "I think we're all gonna need it."

"Can any of you fix my back?" Murdoc said, poking his fingers into one of the holes in his back. "I don't want holes..."

"Hell yeah," Tess said. "You want periphs? I'm a wetware technician. Not cerified, though, 'cos the governments of everywhere got screwed up. But did you see the jorb we did on Mike? Seriously top-notch."

Murdoc stared at her. "Did you speak a word of English?" he asked.

Tess laughed. "I'll explain later. Come on!" 


	12. Chapter 10

29 JUN 2020 THE NEWS SHOW WITH TED TARBLE

"Is this thing on? Oh, good.

"Good morning, everyone! I'm sure you're all glad to be back. I know I am.

"Thanks to a brave group of people, we have been... I can't read that... Oh! Rescued from the robot menace.

"Free Will was a small group led by 2D and Noodle of the band Gorillaz. The other members were Andrew W.K., Mike Tarko, and Tess Tyler.

"Also we should thank Murdoc and Russel, also of Gorillaz, for helping after they had been released from mind control.

"The rebuilding efforts are going strong, already people have been going back to work, and many seem to have gained some sort of technical knowledge.

"We still have a long way to go until we are healed, but everyone is trying."

2 JUL 2020

2D and Noodle sat on the couch, playing a video game. Noodle was winning. 2D was having trouble adjusting to the controller.

The new walls were supposed to come soon, and everyone was sitting around waiting. Murdoc and Russel were watching the video game. They couldn't do much yet; the replacement tissue for the holes in their backs hadn't grown back fully.

Andrew had gone back with his old bandmates, but he said he'd fly out to visit sometimes.

Tess and Mike decided to hang out at Kong. Mike had two of his back-holes plugged, but he was keeping the others. He was going to get fitted for a new VR system that didn't have any outer computers.

Tess finally managed to secure a wetware license. She kept her virus chip under lock and key, just in case.

Megatech had already reformed and was building new robots. This time, however, they were taking every precaution to make sure the Laws were unable to be over-ridden. They weren't taking any chances.

The computers taken from the robot base were returned to those who owned them. On one computer, however, was the software of a long-lost friend...

"Hello, 2D. It has been a while.

2D looked at the computer screen. "Yeah, I know..." he said.

"If my software is being accessed, that means you have succeeded. Correct?"

2D nodded. "Yeah. All thanks to you. They say they can have a new body for you and everything in a few months. With the Three Laws!"

"This is good news. But I must ask one thing."

"What?"

"That they detach the left arm. So I may be reminded of my... gift to humanity."

"Of course. I'll tell them."

"Wonderful. It is good to talk to you once again."

"Yeah."

With that, 2D shut down the computer. The world had a long way to go before it could be completely repaired. And it would never be the same again. But slowly, surely, it was healing. And 2D couldn't help thinking that maybe things would turn out even better.

THE END. 


End file.
